For its first academic session 2015–16, classes started from mentor Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad's campus.

IIIT Lucknow also offers MSc programs in Data Science, AI and ML, Economics and Management.

To address the challenges faced by the Indian IT industry and growth of the domestic IT market, the Ministry of Education, Government of India established twenty Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs), on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis.

The Indian Institute of Information Technology Lucknow (IIITL) was established with the approval of the Ministry of Education, Government of India.

Dr. Arun Mohan Sherry the Former Chief Academic Officer of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Sciences was appointed as the Founding Director of IIIT Lucknow.